Chusetts



UNITE STATE PATENT Games.

CORWIN M. THAYER AND LEONARD THAYER, OF WORCESTER, MASSA- OHUSETTS.

LUNCH-PAIL.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 376,ll9, dated January 10, 1828.

Application filed December 22, 1886. Serial No. 222,295. (No model.)

T aZZ whom it may concern: Be it known that we, CORWIN M. THAYER and LEONARD N. THAYER, citizens of the United States, residing at Worcester, in the county of 'Worcester and State of Massachusetts, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Lunch Pails, of which the followingis a specification. g

Our invention relates to an improvement in lunch-pails; and it consists in a certain novel construction, combination, and arrangement of parts for service, fully set forth hereinafter, and specifically pointed out in the claims.

The primary object of our invention is to provide means whereby a cold lunch may be warmed expeditiously and without danger of burning.

A further object of our invention is to provide an article that may be advantageously employed in heating infants or invalids food or medicine, especially at night, when the fires are usually out.

A further object of our invention is to provide a heating device for a lunch-pail that may be readily removed from and used independ ently of said pail either for heating or illuminating purposes.

A further object of our invention is to provide a lunch-pail which may be used, when desired, as a lantern.

\Ve attain these objects by the device illustrated in the drawings hereto annexed, in which Figure 1 is a side elevation of our improved lunch-pail, as seen when arranged for carrying, with one of the slides raised. Fig. 2 is a sectional View of the same, showing the lampliolder and the lamp therein, in elevation.

' Fig.3 is a horizontal section of the same on the line 00 m of Fig.2. Fig. 4 is a detail perspective 'view of the wire lamp-holder,

showing in dotted lines thelhinged portion Fig. 6 is a side view of a modification of our improved lunch-pail without the openings in the sides and the slides to cover the openings.

Referring to the drawings, in which similar letters denote corresponding parts in all the figures,A is the outside or main pail or bucket, having the series of perforations a at or near the bottom and the perforations a near the top, said perforations a being greaterin numher than perforations a.

B is the usual wire handle or bail for the pail or bucket. Y

O is a wire lamp-holder resting upon the bottom of the bucket or pail, and D is a lamp comprising the fiatcircular body (I, designed to contain the oil for heating or illuminating purposes, and a lamp-burner, E, of any approved pattern.

F is a copper bottomed metallic tray of proper size to exactly fill the upper end of the main pail A. G is a metallic tray similar in size and shape to the tray F, and adapted to be partly received in the tray F, with the bottom of the said tray G supported or held some distance above the bottom of the lower tray, F.

H is a cover or lid provided with a handle or knob, h, the size of which lid or cover is such as to adapt it to fit either thetops of the trays F G or the top of the main pail A. For this reason the tops of the two trays and the top of the main pail A should be of the same slze.

The wire lamp-holder O is constructed as follows:

I is a ring formed of one length of wire, the ends of which are each bent to form a loop,said loops being engaged with each other and soldered together.

K is a wire ring of same size and formed in same manner as ring I, but arranged above the same.

L are vertical side arms or uprights, preferably four in number, and looped at their ends to engage around the rings I and K, and maintain the ring K equidistant above the ring I.

M M are horizontal wire rests, disposed, as shown, within the ring I at opposite sides, the ends at m being bent at an angle and looped to engage the ring I. The rests M are thus arranged on a slightly lower horizontal plane than the bottom ring, I. N N are wire rests too similar to M M, disposed parallel thereto and above the same and joined to the ring K. Solder is applied to all points where the loops intersect or engage the rings, to produce rigidity of the entire frame or la1np-holdcr.

O is a hinged bail, made rectangular in form and of a single piece of wire, the ends 0 being bent at right angles to the sidespp and .formed into eyes q q, to embrace one of the wire rests ll near the ends thereof, and thus journal the bail thereon. The free end 0' of the hinged bail O is adapted to rest upon the other wire rest N, as shown. In this position a cup or small dish may reston the bail, so as to come over the lamp. Of course it is understood that when so employed the wire lamp holder and lamp have been withdrawn from the pail or bucket.

The rings I K for the lamp-holder O are of a diameter slightly less than the inner diameter of the pail or bucket, so that the said sup port will fit snugly and closely within the pail and be thereby held against movement therein, and yet be capable of vertical movement therein, to be easily and readily detached or removed. The hinged bail O can be easily grasped by the hand or by a suitable implement, so that the lamp-holder and the lamp carried thereby can be conveniently elevated from the pail, and the bail of the lamp-holder can be thrown backward into the horizontal position indicated by dotted lines in Fig. 4, so that the sides of the bail will rest on the upper ring, K, of the lamp-holder, and there- 'by adapt the bail for service as a handle, so

that the lamp holder and the lamp therein can be readily carried while the lamp is burning with ease and facility. The burner and cap thereto of the lamp extend upwardly in the lamp-holder, so that the apex of the cap is arranged in close proximity to or actual contact with the bars N and the bail O. The function of this bail is to support cups or other receptacles when it is desired to expeditiously heat the contents thereof, and also to permit ready access to the lamp to clean the burner or to remove it and fill the lamp and to trim the wick thereof.

P are rectangular openings, preferably four in number, in the side of the pail A, in the lower part thereof, and adapted to be closed by the slides P, having flanges Q, which move vertically in the cleats Q, soldered on the outside of the pail, which cleats extend to the top of the pail to allow the slides to be completely withdrawn from over the openings P.

R are glass slides secured in grooves or ways R, soldered on the inside of the pail A, and' said slides R are adapted to cover the openings P in the pail, for a purpose hereinafter explained. The cleats Rare shorter than the height of the pail, to allow of the glass slides R being taken out.

It will be seen that when the slides P are closed the openings in the receptacle or pail and the glass or transparent slides will be concealed from view,and the latter will be shielded and protected by the metallic slides from breakage, the lamp and the lamp holder therefor being fitted snugly and held from movement in the receptacle, so that they will not break or damage the said glass slides, as will be readily understood.

In Fig. 5 we show a modification of our lunclrpail, in which the openingsP and slides P are omitted.

The operation of our invention, as will be readily seen, is as follows: The lamp-body D rests upon the horizontal rests M of the wire lamp-holder C, said wire lamp-holder being placed upon the bottom of the main pail A. The copper-bottomed tray F,containing the liquid part of the lunch,rests upon the top of the wire lampholder G, the hinged bail 0 being thrown down, and the tray G, containing the solid part of the lunch, rests or telescopes within the tray F, asuflicient space being left between the bottoms of the said trays to allow ofcarrying the desired amonntof liquid. The lid H covers the tray G, while the tray F is covered by the said tray G. In this manner the lunch is carried. \Vhen it is desired to heat the Au nch, the trays F G are lifted out of the pail A, and after the lamp has been lighted the trays are replaced. In a short time the lunch contained in the said trays will be as warm as when it was first cooked.

It will be understood that the sides of the tray F. do not tit closely to the sides of the pail A, but that said sides are slanting, the bottom of the tray being smaller than the top. This allows all products of combustion to ascend around the sides of the tray F and pass out at the perforations a.

It will be obvious that the perforations a are provided to supply the light with the proper amount of air necessary to support combustion.

Vhen it is desired to use the heating-lamp for illuminating purposes, the wire frame or lamp-holder 0, containing the lamp, is removed from the pail A and carried by means of the hinged bail O, which is thrown back, as shown in dotted lines in Fig. 4', to act as a handle.

\Vhen it is desired to use the lunchpail as a lantern, remove the trays F G from the main pail A and place the lid Hon the top of the said pail and raise the metallic slides P, or as many of them as desired, and the lunchpail will be transformed into a convenient lantern, as shown in Fig. 5, the glass slides R covering the openings P and keeping all draft from the light.

It may be found desirable in some cases to remove one of the glass slides R and close the opening with the metallic slide P while the device is in use as a lantern, so as to enable the light to be lighted or extinguished, by raising the said slide P, thus obviating the necessity of opening the top of the pail A. This arrangement will also be found serviceable when the device is in use as a lunch-pail, as the light under the lunch can be lighted through the burning.

said opening P without removing the lunch in the metallic dishes F G from the main pail A.

In Figs. 1 to 5, inclusive, the ventilatingopenings are formed in the pail between the slides P only, as it is obvious that when the slides are elevated they would close the openings if they were formed across that part of the receptacle over which the slides lie when elevated to adapt the device for service as a, lantern; but in the device in which the slides are omitted, as in Fig. 6, the ventilating-openings are formed entirely around the receptacle. The lamp and wire lamp-holder may also be used independently of the other parts of our invention for heating purposes, as before explained.

Our improved lunch-pail will be found useful not only for carrying and heating lunches and for the other uses mentioned, but also for heating medicine and other things in a sickroom, or for cooking small quantities of food, when not convenient to use or have a firefor instance, to prepare a broth for a child in the middle of the night, when the fires are not It will also be apparent that when the glass slides are used, as in Figs. 1 to 5, the lunch-pail can be used at any time as a lantern, even while the trays are in the top of the pail. This will be found speciallyserviceable for use by a person going to and returning from work during the early morning or at night.

Having thus described our invention, what we claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States, is-- 1. The hereindescribed lamp -holder for lunch-pails, comprising the upper and lower horizontal rings, the vertical bars secured thereto, and the transverse horizontal bars secured to the rings within the same, as and for the purpose set forth.

2. The herein-described lamp -holder for lunch-pails, comprising the upper and lower connected rings having the transverse bars and the swinging bail connected to the upper ring and adapted to rest upon the transverse bars thereof, as and for the purpose described.

3. The combination, in a lunch-pail, of the pail A, open at the top, the dinner-vessels-fitted therein to contain the lunch, open lampholder. (3, resting on the bottom of the pail and removable therefrom, lamp in the said holder, the said pail having openings in the sides on a level with the said lamp, transparentslidcs on the inner sides of the said pail over the openings, and metal slides on the outside of the said pail over the said openings, all constructed and arranged substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

In testimony that we claim the foregoing as our own we have hereto affixed our signatures in presence of two witnesses.

coRWIN M. THAY ER. LEONARD N. THAYER.

-Witnesses:

ORLANDO B. POND, RUFUS B. DODGE, Jr. 

